A welcoming sunny morning greeted everyone as they arrived at The Langdon Hills Golf Centre (Nr Bulphan) for the KIERON CLARK CHARITY GOLF DAY 2005 in aid of the SDRT Kieron Clark Fund. The aim of the SDRT, of which the Kieron Clark fund works in conjunction with, is to raise awareness and funds for research to help find a cure for the brain cancer that eventually took Kieron, aged 11, after a very brave four year battle. After the hugely successful inaugural event some 10 months earlier, that raised twenty three and half thousand pounds, expectations were that we would struggle to get near that staggering amount but with an increase in golfers and the knowledge learnt from the previous year that participants, sponsors and contributors generosity continued to amaze we, of course, had a chance. The attendance of West Ham legends, Tony Gale and Geoff Pike, certainly gave everyone a boost….apart from the fourballs that nervously awaited their arrival in hope that their golf wouldn’t let them down and cause embarrassment!!! Everyone knows that ex-Professional footballers MUST be good at golf. Who exactly was the pressure on? As everyone tucked into bacon sandwiches, last minute panics were quickly resolved by the Organising Committee and their ever willing helpers, and we were ready to go. The putting competition, that took place on the practice green in front of the clubhouse, collected £288 and seemed to be a bit more forgiving on participants nerves than last year as a few came close before two golfers actually rattled the ‘tin cup’ in quick succession and pocketed £50 each which was very kindly donated back to the charity. The weather seemed set fair as the early fourballs teed off in search of that winning round and in hope that the ‘yellow ball’ would make it onto the first green! Well deserved lubrication was provided at regular intervals from the man in the booze buggy that was a welcome sight to all. Rounds, miraculously, seemed to improve for some after ‘participating’ and others took to lying down on the course whilst the world span around them!! Fortunately, the BMW that was located on the tee for a successful hole in one remained intact despite some erratic shots and no-one was driving it home on this occasion. A total of £88 was collected on the same hole for missing the green with 96 golfers trying their luck. Up to six and a half hours after teeing off, the final fourball returned to the sanctuary of the 19th hole to hear the usual tales of hard luck stories, suspicious scores, terrifying rough and the need to invest in new ‘hardware’. A quick wash and brush up for golfers followed by a few more drinks marked the arrival of the evening guests. Everyone then sat down, eventually, to a three course meal and the opportunity for some to recharge the batteries before the evening’s proceedings. A well timed and well delivered speech by Chairman, John Clark, followed the stuffing of faces… and a few more drinks. Presentations were then made to those golfers that held their nerve the best during the day and, cleverly, resisted the temptations of the booze buggy!! As you will see below there must have been a number dyslexic member of one particular fourball that the overall winner came from!!!! The satisfaction of victory soon evaporated when the prize of a balloon trip for 2 was presented to the afraid of heights winner!!! 18 hole-single competition 1st Place (41 points) - JOHN CLARK Highest placed Lady - APRIL CLARK 2nd Place (39 points) - JASON CHILD Longest Drive - TOM MITCHELL 3rd Place (38 points) - REECE CLAXTON Nearest the pin - MATTHEW JONES 4th Place (38 points) - NORMAN WYATT 5th Place (37 points) - PETER MASLEN Yellow ball competition Winners - Jason Child, Stuart Gibson, Kevin Wood & Matthew Jones 2nd Place - Ricky Wyatt, Norman Wyatt, Steve Benson & A N OTHER 3rd Place - Steve Price, Martyn Hathawey, John Lock & Mark Hyam The title for ‘Worst round of the day’ (or your local equivalent) went to Gil Moore with 8 points, losing on count back. Adger Brown, who played in the same group as Gil, commented on one of the tees that Gil had ‘shit on the end of his club’. On closer inspection by Gil, Adger quickly put him right….. ‘no, the other end !’ With John Clark, now sporting his ‘unique’ shirt, continuing to tell anyone who wanted to listen about the way he conquered the course we quickly moved onto the raffle where great prizes were on offer, kindly donated by individuals and companies. Another £1215 was added to the charities kitty. Adger Brown, back by popular demand after his hugely successful appearance at last years event, then entertained everyone including the youngsters in attendance with his unique brand of ‘family’ fun. Adger was mightily relieved to see that the list of memorabilia items for auction this year never exceeded the 30 odd items that he had to plough through in a marathon 2 hour selling stint last year. There really were some superb items on offer including a signed, personally worn England shirt donated by Alvin Martin, England Rugby union shirt signed by Lawrence Dallaglio and quality pieces signed by Thierry Henry and England legends past & present. Aggressive bidding was the name of the game as close on a staggering £10,000 was raised. After that, liquid refreshment was required by all and everyone certainly didn’t disappoint the bar staff. All that was then left to do was for Chairman, John Clark, to say his final goodbyes, thank everybody for their outstanding generosity and… oh, sell all his clothes and prance round in his boxers!!!! It all started off because the kids were offended by his shirt so that had to go and then it spiralled out of control but, what a sight and what a man!!!! As quickly as it had arrived, THE KIERON CLARK CHARITY GOLF DAY 2005 was over. We all knew what an almighty struggle it would be to improve on last years momentous day but when all the figures were somehow totted up with a clear head, we’d done it. In one day only, £23,579.00 had been raised for this so worthwhile of causes. In such a bad world it really does restore one’s faith in human nature when an extended group of people can come together and care so personally for a brave little boy who most of us didn’t have the pleasure of meeting but, my goodness, his spirit will live on through us all and through days and events like this. The fundraising doesn’t stop here and will go on throughout the year until it happens all over again so please do whatever you can to help. More photographs from this years day and news of future fundraising events will be available shortly at www.kieronclark.com

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